JEDDAH, 25 April 2004 — Interior Minister Prince Naif yesterday downplayed the move by the US Embassy in Riyadh to withdraw its non-essential staff.
“We are not bothered about what others do,” he told reporters while visiting the family of Col. Abdul Rahman Al-Mufaireej, who was killed in Wednesday’s Riyadh blast.
“Everybody will die on the day destined for him by God. There are people who die in their beds or in road accidents. But there are others who fall martyrs on the stage of honor,” the minister said consoling Al-Mufaireej’s family members.
The minister said he was deeply saddened by the fact that it was Saudis who carried out the attack.
“The most wicked among them are those who issue edicts encouraging them to carry out terrorist attacks,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.
